In Another Life, Maybe
by CeilingistheRoof
Summary: Hermione, along with some other students, decide to stay behind after the final battle to help restore order to the castle. Alone at Hogwarts one night Hermione is attacked and unwittingly sent 30 years into the past. What will she do given the chance to save those she loves from pain? To save herself? Triad fanfic (Rated M for sexual content, violence, and profanity).
1. Chapter 1

It was finally over. After fighting for practically your whole life, it is hard to remember what just living is. Living without fear, without having to constantly be on your guard; living without despair, and living without knowing that any day could be the day you lose someone you love. Perhaps there was a time when I knew what that was like. A time when I was young and innocent; naïve to evil and prejudice. That time has since passed.

I stare at the ruins of the school I once loved, my safe space. Hogwarts was more than just a school; it was more of a home to me than the place I grew up. It was the place where I met Harry and Ron, a place where I found love, where I found friendship, where I found something worth fighting for. Now it was gone. Broken, just like so many others.

Staying in the Gryffindor common room has been hard. Like watching something once vibrant and pulsing with life fade to nothingness. A shell of what it used to be. Harry and I, along with some others decided to stay after the last battle. We were here to help the wounded in the hospital wing and help to restore some order to the castle. Nothing is as it used to be. Ron and Ginny left to be with their family. The loss of Fred has destroyed the once loving and warm family. George without his other half? The idea is preposterous. I miss Ron, but he needs to be with his family, he needs to be there for them. I can tell Harry misses Ginny too.

We sit around and try to talk, try to laugh, but visions from the past years keep playing through our heads like a vision, and soon we are stunned again to silence. After a while we give up, and let the silence become our new normal. Maybe that is the key, not to pretend like it never happened, but to just move on. Try to forge a new way through, try to create a new life, I for one could use one.


	2. Chapter 2

Tonight, it is just me and Luna. Harry was visiting Teddy, already trying to step up as a godfather even though Andromeda would be watching the boy. I know it is particularly hard for him, seeing Teddy now an orphan. He wants to be able to give him the best childhood possible since he knows firsthand what it does to a child when they do not have one.

"Bloody Dursleys." I mutter to myself.

Not only have I stopped caring about others use of profanity, I have started using it a lot myself. I guess living in a tent for months with two boys can do that to a person. Also, living through a war really starts to put into perspective things that truly matter, and well, one's use of vocabulary does not seem to be high on my list anymore.

I sit by the fire and watch the embers burn. Luna and I have bonded a lot since school. I consider her a close friend; being tortured at the hands of the same people does tend to bring people together. I pick at the threads of my jumper while Luna distractedly messes with my hair, changing the color from my dull brown to red, to honey, to strawberry blonde, and then a platinum so similar to her own. I think it comforts her to fiddle around, keeps her mind off things. I look at her as she settles on a golden blonde, quirking an eyebrow and she smiles back.

"Now the eyes."

I can't see what color she makes them but there is a flash in my eye each time she switches back and forth. After a while I think she gets bored. I know eventually the changes she made will wear off and I will once again have my signature brown unruly hair and chocolate eyes. Luna comes back holding a small vial.

"I have been working on this potion for the past few days. A way to get my mind off things I suppose, just a bit of tinkering with the original. Would you mind trying it? I would consider asking someone else, but it seems to be only us tonight."

I grab the bottle not truly caring whatever it is, I trust Luna and what do I have to lose anyways? Chugging the contents down I gag at the thick viscous texture.

"So sorry about the flavor. I tried to add some honeysuckle, but it kept interfering with the potency."

I glance over myself trying to detect any changes that may have occurred from swallowing the foul brew. Suddenly my arms shrink at the same time as my legs and I am soon sitting lower to the ground looking up at a serenely smiling Luna.

"What have you done?"

She lets out an airy laugh and sits beside me in front of the fire.

"It is a special de-aging potion. The effects are quite potent; my research shows that it should imitate a full reversal to a previous age. The only way to become your original age is to either live through the years a second time, or drink the antidote. Do not worry, I have brewed that as well."

"And to what age have I been, de-aged to." I say gesturing wildly to myself.

"Oh I don't know, from the looks of it, anywhere from 8 to 10."

I press my palms to my face. Those were not my best years. I reach forward to touch my too large front teeth, but before I can Luna has raised her wand again and I feel them shrink back up towards the roof of my mouth.

"I remember how much you used to fret over your teeth."

I laugh and the sound rings in my ears. How long has it been since I laughed?

"Well when can I return to my original age? Now that we know the potion works?"

"Oh, I will retrieve it first thing in the morning. I have kept most of my supplies in the Room of Requirement. Works as a fantastic potions lab."

Luna once told me about her mother. A brilliant witch who loved to tinker with potions and spells. Seems Luna is like her mother in that way as well. Nothing too out of the ordinary for a Ravenclaw, however. I just hope she is careful, I cannot imagine losing another friend.

"That is fine. I trust you Luna. Would you like to go check out the library with me? I have been meaning to go see how everything was, but I have been so caught up with everything else these past few days."

"I would love too! I was hoping to go patrol the corridors for Nargles, but I could meet you there after a quick sweep?"

She nods her head to where McGonagall's time turner lays, a gift from the newly appointed headmaster.

 _"_ _It never does one good to dwell on the past Hermione, I should know. You will always be one of my brightest students, though that is to be expected from a 3_ _rd_ _year who is allowed to dabble in time magic." She says quirking her lips at me._

 _"_ _I would like you to have this. It is my own personal time turner. I do not need it, and I fear the temptation may be too strong for me, but if I could trust anyone with it, it would certainly be you. You definitely have the credentials."_

 _I examined the delicate necklace in my hand. The golden circle with the shining hourglass in the center, fine glittering sand moving as I turned it over in my palm._

 _"_ _Thank you so much Professor. I will keep it safe."_

"You should take that with you. You do not want it to fall into the wrong hands."

I silently agree. I get up from the floor swaying on my too small legs. I pick up the time turner from the table and put it over my head, tucking it into my sweater and letting the cold metal touch my skin. As I leave through the portrait hole I do not dare glance in a mirror, too nervous to see what I looked like at the moment with blonde hair and stranger's eyes in an eight year olds body. Hopefully the spells she cast would wear off soon.

"Don't be too long!" I call back as I leave.


	3. Chapter 3

Opening the doors to the library I smile sadly at the piles of toppled over books, smashed shelves, and singed pages. So many precious tomes scattered and forgotten. I walk down the aisles skimming my fingers along the dark wood of the bookcases I once loved to get lost in.

On the underside of one of the shelves I see an etching. Wanting to know what kind of person would vandalize the Hogwarts library I moved closer.

 **Marauders**

 **1977**

A tear ran down my cheek. A few days ago, the last of the Marauders died. Remus Lupin was a dear friend. He was the best defense teacher I ever had, and I can even admit to myself that I always had a bit of a crush on the older man.

 _Walking through the Great Hall, my face caked with dirt and streaked in blood, my hands trembled from exhaustion and anxiety. I looked at the faces of the dead who lay on the cold ground, the brave who lost their lives fighting for freedom._

 _I spot Lavender Brown, Colin Creevey, and too many other classmates I had come to know over the years._

 _I walk down the aisles of the lifeless, and suddenly my breath catches. I'm running blind, tears blurring my vision and running down my face. I drop to my knees, sobbing._

 _On the ground in front of me lies Professor Lupin. His eyes closed, almost as if he is sleeping. Beside him is his wife, Tonks. Her hand outstretched towards her husband, almost as if she was hoping to stay connected to him even in death._

 _I choke back sobs trying desperately to soak up the wetness on my face with my jumper. The liquid of my tears instead mixing with the dirt to make a paste._

 _A hand touches my shoulder and I look up to meet the red-rimmed eyes of my best friend, Harry Potter. He kneels on the ground beside me, pain flooding through his features as he gazes at Remus._

 _"_ _Fred is gone."_

 _I choke and throw my arms around his neck and we sob together. We always knew that not everyone would make it, but we never expected this. Remus and Tonks had just had a baby, and Fred! The light may have won, but the world had certainly grown a bit dimmer._

I had always admired Remus Lupin, he and Sirius both saved us on so many occasions. Well then again, I guess we all saved each other really. In the end, it didn't really matter. They were both dead, and the rest of us a bit more broken than when we entered this world. I would not be here today, and certainly neither would Harry, without them.

I had asked Remus once about his relationship with Tonks. I read in a book about werewolves that they were rumored to have mates, one person destined to them, a brilliant bit of magic to have someone so perfect for you, as if you were made for each other. He had chuckled then looked contemplative. "I don't know, always assumed it to be a myth." He told me he had never met a mated pair, nor was Tonks his mate…that he knew of. Even if they were not true mates, I could tell how much he cared about Tonks, how much she truly adored him, and he her. They had a son together, and now he was an orphan, much the same as Harry was once upon a time.

However, Teddy had his grandmother and of course his godfather. As once Harry too had his godfather.

Sirius Black. He really knew how to push my buttons. I think he just liked to say things just so I would yell at him. Never really understood the man, but I cared about him deeply. The first time I met him, dirty and malnourished; a madman hell bent on revenge against the rat, Peter Pettigrew. Then to rescue him from certain death, to see his relationship with Harry grow over the years, to see how much he loved Harry. And then to hear about his death after the Ministry. If only I had not been taken down that day, if I had maybe avoided the curse, maybe I could have saved him?

I sigh. I could spend the rest of my life going over if onlys.

Harry Potter, only son of Lily and James. A couple whom made us all believe in love again, if the stories Remus and Sirius used to tell were to be believed. They were too young, way too young to die. To never get to see Harry grow up. To never be there for him, to save him from his awful childhood handed to him by the Dursleys. Harry Potter deserved more. The Marauders deserved more.

Well maybe not the traitorous Peter Pettigrew. The only thing he deserved was a more painful death. Although being strangled by one's own hand doesn't sound like the most pleasant way to die.

I sniffle just now realizing the silent tears that have crept down my cheeks while I thought about the once famed Marauders. I wipe the tears from my face when the door creaks, not wanting to get caught crying again.

"Luna?" I call out as I turn towards the door expecting to see my friend entering.

"Avada Kedavra!"

I never even see the attackers face as the green light streaks towards me blinding my vision. It hits me in the chest, directly on the time turner, and it explodes. Gold clashes with green as my body is hurled backwards into one of the remaining upright bookshelves. Heat melting into my chest and a shower of sparks blurs my vision as there is an intense burning in my face and eyes. My body bows and feels like it is being ripped apart, like I am in a wind tunnel, air screeching in my ears. And I wonder if this is what death is like, just pain and an endless abyss, as my vison goes black.


	4. Chapter 4

I try to scream but I hear no noise, I can barely breathe. Hands are grabbing at me and I want to fight them off, but my arms and legs do not seem to work. My eyes, face and chest feel as though I have been scalded by Fiendfyre. I am starting to wonder if my back is broken, and I feel a wetness seeping down my head.

"Calm down child. You are okay. You are going to be okay. We are taking you to a hospital"

I know that voice, it sounds so familiar, but I cannot place it. A soothing hand touches my forehead and I greet the darkness yet again.

I blink open blurry eyes. Sunlight streams in through large familiar windows. I am in the Hogwarts hospital wing? I look down at the clean linens and tidy area. How did they fix it up so fast after the battle? How did I miss this? I must have been out a while. Have they already moved everyone to St. Mungos?

I try to sit up and groan in pain, flopping back down onto the bed. Just when I am about to call out for help, Madame Pomfrey opens the curtains.

"My dear you are awake? How are you doing? You gave us quite a scare. Really touch or go."

She fluffs my pillows, helping me to sit up some. Something is not right about her. She looks…younger?

"Madame Pomfrey where are all the survivors? Better yet, how am I alive?"

She looks taken aback. She opens her mouth, then closes it. She looks around the room, and soon I hear another voice. Dumbledore?

"Ah, I see our guest is awake. Poppy how about you give us a minute."

Madame Pomfrey gives me a questioning look before excusing herself. I stare open mouthed at my old headmaster. I must truly be dead!

"You are a very lucky young lady. Broken back, broken ribs and collapsed lungs. A nasty head wound, and some burns, although Poppy could not tell by what. You also have quite a few pre-existing scars?" He says nodding towards my arm.

I am still staring so I slowly close my mouth.

"Um, Professor Dumbledore? Do not take this the wrong way…but how are you alive?"

He looks at me in much the same way Madame Pomfrey did.

"My dear, you know me?"

"Of course sir. But you died, how, how is it you are here?"

He sits down slowly in the chair beside my bed.

"I assure you my dear, I did not die, nor have I died. What is your name?"

My brain is starting to hurt. I am so confused. Then suddenly it hits me. The time turner! I look down at myself, noticing I am wearing a hospital gown, I pull down the neck expecting to see a gold chain, but I am met with only skin, and a ring of red raised skin. I blink my eyes, looking up at the Headmaster for the first time, now noticing he too looks much different from the man I knew before his death.

"S-sir, wh-what year is it, may I ask?"

If anything, he now looks more curious. Still the same old Dumbledore.

"Why it is 1969."

I gasp flopping back against my pillows. 1969? Bloody 1969? I was hit by the killing curse, how am I alive? And how was I thrown nearly 30 years into the past? I sit back up quickly, now glancing at my small arms. I wiggle my toes and see they only reach to halfway down the bed.

"Oh gosh, there is so much I must tell you sir! But first, may I see a mirror?"

With a wave of his wand a small handheld mirror appears and he holds it out to me. I slowly grasp it. I turn it around and my eyes nearly pop out of my head. My hair is a multitude of colors, where my one tone brown used to nearly defy gravity, now silken hair flows down my shoulders in streaks of brown, red, honey, and platinum. And my eyes! One is a startling ice blue, the other a pale grey. My face shines as if in glitter, my skin still pale but it looks almost as if my nose and cheeks have golden freckles. My teeth still shrunk, and my face that of a nine-year-old child. I gulp, handing the mirror back to the headmaster and ask my next question, hoping I do not have to live through puberty for the second time.

"Professor, how long have I been out since you found me?"

"About 8 days. Took Poppy a while to regrow the bones in your back and chest, and with your head wound, we were not sure you would wake at all."

If the spell did not wear off in a day it was starting to become doubtful it ever would. Plus, Luna had said that her potion was to mimic actually reverting to a previous age, and without her specific antidote, that meant I was stuck in the body of a child. Being thrown in the past with her spells must have also caused them to overlap and mix together, now giving me this hair and different colored eyes. And I thought my hair drew attention before? And the time turner, the dust must have burnt into my face leaving me with these strange glittering freckles. I groan, burying my face into my hands.

"Professor Dumbledore, I seem to have traveled back in time."

His eyes grow wide and he looks unsure.

"And where do you seem to have come from?"

"That sir, is a long story."

I begin to tell him everything, starting with my first year. But the more I try to concentrate on the details, the more they begin to evade me. It is as if I can remember it all, but it is difficult to put it into words, as if all my memories are hidden behind a veil.

By the end of my story, or what I could piece into words for him, more big picture than anything, he is pacing the room.

"Is there a way for me to go back? To send a person forward, say about 30 years?"

He smiled at me ruefully.

"I am sorry Miss Granger, but to my knowledge, there is not."

I nodded once, my mind made.

"I will do it. I will fix it. I will change everything." I titled my head, thinking. "I bet that is why I was sent here. Right before I got hit with the killing curse, I had been thinking about a group of students who will be coming to Hogwarts in a few years. I was thinking about how I wish I could have changed their story, made their lives better, saved them. I think that is why the time turner sent me here. It must have latched onto those thoughts!"

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully, fiddling with his beard before addressing me once more.

"You have given me a lot to think about my dear. There is also the matter of where you will be staying. You are too young to attend Hogwarts, as you are only about 9 years old I would guess, and even so, it is the summer. I must make arrangements for you with a family, one that will protect you. No one can know about you, where you are from, or the information you hold. There are whispers of Voldemort, but he is still rising to power. You say you want to change that, and I think you may have the power to do so. I know of a family; they have a son. I believe he is about your age as well. I will owl them at once."

With that he strode from the hospital, leaving me with my thoughts. A war heroine, in the body of a child. How ever could that go wrong?


	5. Chapter 5

It was night before Dumbledore returned again.

"I have found a family that would like to adopt a daughter. You will be going to live with them. I assure you that they are a lovely family, one I trust completely. You will be safe there. Although there is the matter of your scar."

I nodded absently scratching at the raised Mudblood scar carved into my arm.

"The family I am sending you to is Pureblood. For your protection, I thought it best to hide you in a family that is sure to not be targeted as directly by Voldemort's followers. But in order for that to work, we must hide that scar. Would you allow me to cast a Concealment charm?"

"Yes sir, I-I think that will be best."

In a moment, I looked down to unblemished skin, a weight already lifting from my shoulders at not having to stare at the constant reminder of my torture at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange. I have had vivid nightmares since it happened, her gleeful cackling, and the madness in her eyes. I always awoke shuttering in aftershocks of the numerous Cruciatus she put me through.

Just then Madame Pomfrey swept in helping me stand from the bed. My clothes from the night they found me had been laundered so I was again wearing a pair of muggle jeans and my maroon jumper with black trainers.

"Be sure to take care of yourself." Madame Pomfrey called as I followed Dumbledore from the hospital wing towards his office.

Once there we walked to the floo where he handed me a handful of powder. My eyes widened when he called out, "Potter Manor." And I soon followed.

I stumbled out of the large fireplace coughing lightly. My eyes widened as I took in the large great room. It reminded me so much of the Gryffindor common room that an automatic sense of home filtered through me. My open-eyed gaze ran around the room decorated in burgundy and gold with rich wood furniture until they stopped on a smiling older couple. The man had black hair greying at the temples with sparkling hazel eyes, and the woman had platinum hair with a sharp glint to her happy green eyes.

The couple slowly walked towards me. The woman holding out her hand as if to a scared dog. I stiffened a bit in response, not wanting her to think me weak, and she smiled gleefully.

"Hello, my name is Dorea Potter and this is my husband Charlus. Welcome to our home."

I shook her hand firmly in my own.

"Hello my name is Hermione. I would like to thank you for taking me in."

They couple turned to each other and shared a secret look. The man, Charlus, bending down a bit to look me in the eye.

"To be honest Hermione, we have always wanted a daughter. And our son, James, he is the same age as you, and has always begged us for another sibling. I'm afraid we easily bore him, little too old to be keeping up with him."

I tilted my head looking at them in interest. For wizards, they still appeared to be pretty young, 60s maybe? By human standards an older couple, but for wizards they had many years ahead of them.

With this thought my eyes dilated, and a series of thoughts flashed through my head. I shook myself as if coming out of a dream and looked around the room once more meeting the couple's eyes. I could not be sure, but I thought that I must have had a vision. But that was impossible, right? I was never a seer?

"I do not think you are too old." I said clearly and matter of factly.

They both chuckled again and my heart clenched. Such happiness, such love. They reminded me somewhat of my own parents. That is my own parents 30 years in the future. Parents who I left in Australia, still not knowing they ever had a daughter.

"I like her Charlus."

I smiled at them, my eyes a little watery. The woman stepped forward and wrapped me in her arms, and just like that my shoulders shook as I let myself take comfort in this strange woman's embrace.

"Hush dear it is okay. You are home now, no tears."

"Home." I whispered, and she smiled brilliantly at me.

"Thank you so much for doing this Mr. and Mrs. Potter."

She tsked me…actually tsked me.

"Now there will be no Mr. and Mrs. Potter, you may call us mum and dad."

I hiccupped, not quite knowing what to say, but Dumbledore saved me.

"Well I must be getting back, and I shall be seeing you at Hogwarts soon enough Hermione." His eyes twinkled back at me as he stepped into the floo and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Now we must be showing you to your room. As soon as we heard from the Headmaster we began getting everything in order for you. We wanted to make you as comfortable as possible." She looked back at me just as I was about to open my mouth and argue the point.

"And don't you worry about a thing my dear. You are our daughter now, and we will provide you with everything that entails. We have also told James who is incredibly excited to meet you, however, due to your late arrival I am afraid that will have to wait until tomorrow, as I know you must be exhausted as well."

After a brief walk up a beautiful winding spiral staircase and down a long hall, we reached a pair of white doors at the end. Charlus pushed them open and the three of us walked inside. The room was beautiful! A large bay window sat to the left, a window seat covered in various plush pillows. A beautiful desk and wardrobe, and at the center a large four poster bed draped with a gossamer canopy. The whole room was decorated with white and periwinkle blue.

"It is beautiful." I said to no one in particular.

"We are so glad you like it."

"Minny!" Dorea called out lightly. With a pop a tiny little house elf apparated into the room, she was wearing a crisp white tea towel with little flowers embroidered into the silk.

"This is Hermione, we will be adopting her first thing in the morning."

Minny clapped her hands smiling at me and moving around touching my pants and grabbing at my hands.

"A new mistress! And how pretty, what interesting eyes! Minny loves to care for master James, and now a new mistress? Minny sees great things for Mistress Hermione!" She clapped in glee dancing around the room.

Many things had changed for me over the years, including my stance of house elf rights. I understood now that they wanted to work, that they even loved to work for a family. So long as they were treated right and they were happy, I was happy. It clearly seemed that Minny had a good family, and now I guess, so did I.

"Alright my dear, Charlus and I are going to retire for the evening. We shall see you in the morning and then we will file the forms to have you officially adopted. Goodnight Hermione."

With those last words, they both kissed me on the head and walked out the door, quietly shutting it behind them.

"Would mistress be needing anything from Minny."

"Actually, I would love some Dreamless Sleep potion if you have any?"

With a pop the little house elf disappeared and in a few seconds, was back.

"Here you go mistress, will you be needing anything else."

"No thank you Minny, goodnight."

Minny smile happily and disapparated again. I strode to the wardrobe, quickly finding a pair of light pink sleep shorts and a matching top. I shucked my clothes and changed, then crawled under the covers of the bed. I swallowed the potion Minny left on the bedside table and a few moments later was blissfully asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

The sunlight streaming in through the curtains began to wake me and I blinked open my still tired eyes. In doing so I was met face to face with a pair of hazel ones. It scared me so much that I jerked backwards screaming as if being murdered.

The small boy in front of me, clearly startled by my spontaneous awakening, began screaming as well. My eyes widened as I finally got a good look at the boy currently crowding onto my bed. Merlin, he looked exactly like Harry! I realize this must be James Potter, messy black hair, hazel eyes full of mischief. Moments later both of us are still screaming, staring wide-eyed at the other. I realize quickly how ludicrous this must be, in no way am I going to be murdered by a small child with messy hair, so I clamp my mouth shut. The boy must have had the same idea because he does as well.

"Bloody hell." I mutter.

The boy grins one of the widest smiles I have ever seen and begins to chuckle.

"Oi, I guess I should go get mum and dad, tell them that this one is defective and to take it back."

I glare at him and snidely say. "Is that any way to talk to your new sister?"

"Actually I believe that is exactly how I should be talking to my new sister. I've got nine years of bullying to make up for." The boy says reaching out his hand. "James Potter."

I gasp as a series of images flow through my mind. "James Potter, you are a hero." I breathe the words, not knowing exactly where they came from.

"Wicked! What was that? Are you a seer? Was that a vision!"

"I-I don't know, it has never _really_ happened before."

"That was amazing, you said I was a hero! What did I do? Something heroic, obviously." He chuckles to himself. "Maybe we should keep this between us, yeah? Seers have a hard time in this current political climate." He says the words as if he has heard them before and thus memorized them.

I laugh figuring it was from spying on his parents most likely. "I like the sound of that."

The boy chuckles and nods. "So mum and dad say your name is, Her-my-knee. Not sure I like it, bit of a mouthful that one. How about My?"

I guffaw. The audacity. I always heard James Potter was a cocky rascal, but to actually see it!

"Alright then I guess that makes you…Jamie. Wait no, Me!"

He looks thoughtful for a second.

"Well that could get confusing."

I laugh. "All the more fun." I say with a smirk.

He stares at me. "I think I am going to like you. But first things first, how do we explain this twin thing, we look nothing alike. You with the multi-colored hair and the weird eyes."

"Twins?"

"Yeah, you are my sister and we are the same age, how else do we explain that?"

I think about the question for a while, pondering what we will actually tell people before I look back up smirking playfully at him. Not sure how it happened, but I already seem to care for the messy headed smart mouth in front of me. He is like a carbon-copy of my best friend, minus the eyes, and his playful attitude reminds me so much of Fred and George. "How about you just tell them that you got the all the good looks, and so I just got stuck with everything else."

We both double over in laughter, before smiling at each other wearing equally devious looks on our faces. Which is exactly how Dorea and Charlus found us.

"Oh my Dorea, it seems we now have two trouble makers in the family."


	7. Chapter 7

She was now Hermione Euphemia Potter, only daughter of Dorea and Charlus Potter, and twin to James Potter. Years went by and despite their physical differences they became twins in every sense of the word. James was there for her when the Dreamless Sleep stopped working to keep her nightmares at bay.

 _"_ _It is a fake. A copy. We didn't take anything I swear!"_

 _Her screams ricocheted off the walls with the force of her wails. Her body bowed and twitched in pain._

 _"_ _Please, I am telling the truth! Stop!" She screamed again, crying, tears streaming down her face._

 _The double doors to her room burst open and James Potter rushed in. Glasses askew and black hair sticking up in every direction._

 _"_ _My! What's wrong?" He rushes to her side gently touching her shoulder._

 _Her screaming stops but tears still leak from her eyes and she whimpers in pain. He climbs onto the large four poster bed beside his sister wrapping his arms around her small shoulders._

 _"_ _My? It is okay, I am here. It is okay." He gently rocks her from side to side, feeling her pain as if it is his own._

 _She sniffles. "Me? Is that you?"_

 _"_ _Yeah it's Me, everything is okay, I've got you. I won't let anyone hurt you."_

He was always there for his twin, slipping into her room at night and holding her tight as if at any moment someone could take her away. In time Hermione told him a bit about her nightmares, just that people had hurt her and her family. James was not sure he could bare to handle hearing more than that.

Closer than best friends, they were inseparable. My and Me, partners in crime. Growing up with a mischievous future Marauder changed Hermione a lot, and she was no longer the uptight bookworm she used to be. Although she still loved to spend her days in the library reading with either Dorea or Charlus.

That summer, Charlus and James finally coaxed Hermione onto a broom. She was hesitant at first, but with their guidance she was soon doing tricks all over the field at the back of the manor. She was even faster than James.

She and James grew to love pranks and causing trouble wherever they went. This caused a lot of mayhem with their tutor who despised, "Unruly children who just won't sit still!"

Hermione reasoned that the first time around she spent her childhood stuck in her books, never having many friends and always rather lonely. This time, she wanted to do it different. Besides at 9 years old, she could most likely already pass her NEWTS. She now did not take school too seriously, and she was finding that being a regular child and letting loose sometimes was making her so much happier.

She and James never told Dorea and Charlus about her "visions." They did not happen a lot, but when they did My and Me would lock themselves up in their rooms and talk about it in detail.

Hermione spent a lot of time with Dorea. She and James were forced to take dance, and piano lessons, skills that any proper Pureblood would know. She actually quite enjoyed learning something new, especially seeing as she was always a rubbish dancer.

Two years later the twins received their Hogwarts letters and were beyond excited to finally attend school.


	8. Chapter 8

"Bye mum, bye dad, I will write as soon as I can and let you know how the sorting goes!" I hugged Dorea and Charlus one more time, lingering in their embrace. Two years later and they truly felt like my parents, as if this time period, being their daughter and James' sister, was how it had always been. I still missed my friends every day, Harry and Ron, Luna, and my birth parents. Thinking about them was always bitter sweet, but I knew my being here was for the best and I did not regret it a single day.

"Good bye my dears, stay out of trouble!" Dorea called.

Hermione and James smirked at each other then grabbed their carts and raced for the train, their new owl Nyx in tow. Hermione had wanted another cat, but none seemed to measure up to her old familiar Crookshanks. So, she and James had settled on the brilliant black and white horned owl.

They walked through the train searching for an empty compartment, and finally settled on one near the back. They stored their trunks and plopped down for the ride.

"This year is going to be brilliant Me, I can just tell!" I said excitedly.

James chuckled already pulling out his game of Exploding Snap. "Fancy a game?" He asked. Just then the door their compartment slid open and Hermione's eyes widened in recognition.

"Oi I love those!" The boy said pointing to the cards. "The name's Sirius Black, do you mind if I sit here?"

James smiled extending his hand. "No of course not. My name is James Potter and this is my sister Hermione."

Sirius smiled shaking James hand before he turned to look at me, his eyes slightly widening.

I rolled mine. "I know, I know, it is the eyes." I laugh. "Takes a bit to get used to them."

Sirius nods laughing. He is absolutely adorable, and it makes my heart clench to see him so young and carefree. His midnight hair just barely brushing his shoulders and his grey eyes shining. Seeing him makes me realize how much I missed the older man, or I guess boy now.

"Brilliant they are. Captivating."

"Oi! Quit ogling my sister or I'll have to make you leave." James laughs.

I move my hand about wistfully, brushing off my brother's overprotectiveness.

"I am going to go walk around the train a bit. I will be back soon." I stand brushing of my clothes and walk out of the compartment. If I just met a young Sirius Black, that just means we are missing two more Marauders, and I was certainly going to make sure that one stayed away and the other soon joined the duo becoming fast friends in our compartment.

I walk up and down the aisles of the train looking into the separate compartments. In one I spot a small red-headed girl and a boy with long black hair quietly reading. I would hazard a guess and say that is none other than Lily Potter, or I laugh quietly to myself, Lily Evans that is. The boy must be Severus Snape! Oh how I hope to change that man's future as well. I keep walking until I spot a lanky young boy sitting alone in a compartment reading a large tome. I hope my suspicions are correct and open the door letting myself in.

"Hello, my name is Hermione Potter do you mind if I come in?"

The boy looks around the compartment with scared, tired eyes. They widen when he realizes that I am indeed talking to him, and I smile widely taking a seat beside him. I know it makes him a bit uncomfortable because he stiffens. I reach out a hand to him in greeting.

"What is your name?"

"I-I am Remus, R-Remus, Lupin."

He hesitantly takes my hand and I grasp it warmly. I jolt a bit at the touch, a spark shooting through my body, but compose myself and tug at his hand so he stands.

"It is nice to meet you Remus. You should come to my compartment; my brother would love to meet you! I can already tell we are going to be fast friends!"

"F-friends?" Remus whispers. I smile back still tugging on him so he leaves his compartment.

"Of course silly! Anyone who enjoys reading Hogwarts: A History as much as me is bound to be my friend." I say nodding to the book still gripped tightly in his hands.

I drag him along to the back of the train where our compartment rests and stop, opening the door and ushering him in.

"May I present Remus Lupin, my new friend, and soon to be yours as well!"

I chuckle smiling widely at James and Sirius before plonking Remus down and sitting beside him. James and Sirius having already started a game of cards on the opposite bench.

"Any friend of My's is a friend of mine. Nice to meet you, I am James."

Remus smiles clasping James outstretched hand in greeting.

"My?"

We both laugh. "Yeah, just names we have for each other, My-Hermione, Me-Jamie. Done it sense we were little."

"Sirius Black, just met these two on the train, nice to meet you as well!"

Just as Remus and Sirius extend hands to clasp in greeting a small round boy with mousy brown hair tugs open the door.

"H-hi, mmy nname is P-Peter, c-can I sit with you?"

My head swims viciously and I clutch at my skull as images run through at a rapid rate. I lock eyes with the boy and I do not know what he sees in them but he gives a small gasp.

"Rat!" I seethe out. "Peter Pettigrew. Weak, scared, traitor to his friends! You would serve a madman and happily lead those who would love you to the slaughter." I gasp out through clenched teeth.

"Get out!" James yells at the boy, and Peter turns and runs but I can see the suppressed anger in his wide watery eyes.

"What the bloody hell was that!" Sirius yells jumping to his feet.

James adjust his glasses and I sigh. We have to tell them, we may not know them yet, but I know their future selves are trustworthy at least so I nod to James.

"Well you see, My kind of gets feelings sometimes about people. Not really sure what, we like to call it intuition."

"Or just an educated guess!" I pipe up, but slump back down when they all shoot me a wry look.

"We think they might be visions, but we really have no idea."

"Wicked." Sirius says staring at me in a new light, and I grin sheepishly.

"Can you do me?" He asks.

"It doesn't really work that way-" I start to say before another series of images begins to flit through my brain.

I stare off into space not really looking at anything and I can tell a small smile plays across my face. "Sirius Orion Black." I breath reaching out to touch his face. "You feel alone in a family that does not accept you for who you are, who wishes you to be someone else. We may not get to choose our blood, but we can choose those we consider family. You will soon have a family that will accept you for all that you are, who will love you no matter what. Unconditional." I smile at him as I blink back into reality.

I can see there are small tears in his eyes but he wipes them hastily away.

"Thank you." He breathes into my ear as he pulls me in for a bone crushing hug. James is smiling at the boy widely.

"Remus how about you have a go."

"Oi it is not like I am a game he can just take a turn at!" I huff angrily.

Sirius grins a bit sheepishly at that before I turn to Remus placing a small hand on his shoulder. He looks as if he is about to bolt from the room, and I know he is concerned about what I will see. Unbeknownst to him, I already know he is a werewolf even without the new visions and I accept him anyway.

I look deep into his wide eyes and my gaze unfocuses, before a new set of images plays through my mind.

"RJ Lupin." I laugh and the sound tinkles in my own ears. "You have secrets. We all do…" I whisper the last part low to him. "But, secrets stifle. Share the burden of them with your friends. Before you know it, you will have more friends than you know what to do with. Lean on them."

I sit back in my seat and Remus just stares at me and I smile shyly at him. He gives a small grin back and I know that we are all going to be okay.

James claps his hands laughing loudly.

"Guess I should owl mum now, let her know she has two new sons she didn't know about."

We all laugh at that and the tension is broken. We grin widely at each other and I can already tell we are going to be the best of friends. Marauders 2.0 I chuckle to myself, back and better than ever.


	9. Chapter 9

The four of us eagerly await the sorting, chattering excitedly outside of the doors that led to the Great Hall.

Just for old times' sake, and in honor of my good friends Fred and George Weasley I looked around and then quietly whispered to my friends. "So I heard you had to fight a troll."

"Awesome! I hope so!" Classic Sirius I thought, always running head first into danger. Remus and James began laughing loudly at their friend's gullibility.

"Honestly, how could you believe that. Did either of you even read Hogwarts: A History?" I smiled already knowing who the voice of the bookish little girl belonged too. The question reminding me so much of something I would have asked once upon a time.

Hermione turned meeting the startling green eyes of her best friend Harry Potter. She sucked in a gasp before noticing that the green eyes were settled into a small feminine face covered in freckles and surrounded by long red hair.

"Of course. Although, it is always good fun to see who has not. Hermione Potter." I state extending my hand to the girl.

She smiles slightly but I can see that the joke is lost on her. "Lily Evans, and this is my good friend Severus Snape." She pulls the small boy forward by the hand, his face covered in unkempt black hair.

"Hello Severus, it is very nice to meet you." I smile widely at the boy who looks back at me with uncertainty.

I hear a huff behind me before a low whisper. "More like Snivellus." My three friends laugh. "Looks like a Slytherin to me." I hear Sirius say.

I turn around quickly, my hands on my hips, mock Molly Weasley style.

"Sirius Black. I do believe you more than anyone here would know the value of a good friend. It does not do well to pick on others for things that are out of their control, hm?" I ask.

He looks abashed before sticking out his hand to Severus as well.

"Sorry about that, I am Sirius Black. If Hermione sticks up for you, then I trust her."

I smile triumphantly at that. Perhaps I can change so much more here than I originally intended. Severus looks unsure but shakes the young boys hand, and I smile happily at him. He gives a tiny smirk in response.

I tug on his hand bringing him over to James and almost presenting him.

"James this is Severus. Severus this is my brother James." James chuckles at me lightly before shaking the boys hand. "And this is my other good friend Remus Lupin. Remus this is Severus." They size each other up before slowly grasping hands.

Just as we get introductions out of the way Professor McGonagall appears and leads us into the Great Hall. I wrap my arm around Severus's shoulder and he looks at me in question, not used to having people act so comfortably around him.

"You know you have really strange eyes." He says.

I laugh lightly at him. "So I have been told."


	10. Chapter 10

"Sirius Black."

I squeeze Sirius's hand as he makes his way over to the sorting hat. I know how nervous he is, scared to follow in the footsteps of him family…scared not to.

"Gryffindor!"

He smiles widely and makes his way over to the table catching our eyes and I clap, grinning from ear to ear at him.

"Dirk Cresswell."

"Ravenclaw!"

"Bartemius Crouch, Junior"

"Slytherin!"

"Amos Diggory."

"Hufflepuff!"

"Lily Evans."

The small girl smiles at us before making her way to the stool where the sorting hat is placed on her head.

"Gryffindor!"

She skips over to Gryffindor table giving Severus a big thumbs up.

"Alice Fortescue."

"Gryffindor!"

"Bertha Jorkins."

"Hufflepuff!"

"Remus Lupin."

Remus looks back at us shyly and I give him a thumbs up and a big smile as he makes his way forward.

"Gryffindor!"

"Mary Macdonald."

"Gryffindor!"

"Marlene McKinnon."

"Hufflepuff!"

"Pandora Nettles."

"Ravenclaw!"

"Peter Pettigrew."

"…Slytherin!"

I gasp. Apparently, I have changed so much already that Peter was not sorted into Gryffindor. This can be only positive I think to myself, looking sadly at my brother then at the small girl I just met, Lily Evans.

"James Potter."

I pat my bother on the shoulder as he walks towards the front of the Great Hall and he turns giving me his signature smirk before the hat is placed on his head.

"Gryffindor!"

A new record for the fastest sorting I chuckle to myself. Gryffindor to the core.

"Hermione Potter."

The hall goes quiet as I make my way forward and I am unsure if it is because they just realized we are siblings and look nothing alike, or simply just the way I look, a mane full of multi-colored hair and mismatched eyes. Either way I ignore them and plop down on the stool.

 _Curious, very curious. A time traveler, how interesting. Slytherin would do well for you, I see much has changed and you are more than willing to act with cunning and resourcefulness. Hufflepuff perhaps, your loyalty knows no bounds? Or maybe Ravenclaw? I see you are intelligent, that you thirst for knowledge. Alas, maybe you are a Gryffindor, brave and true? Hmm, nothing to say, guess it will have to be…_

"Gryffindor!"

My rapidly beating heart slows and I smile widely making my way towards my brother and my new friends. I take a seat in between James and Sirius and hug them both around their shoulders, so happy to not be separated from them.

"Severus Snape."

My head snaps up when I hear the name called and I wonder if I have changed enough for Severus's fate to have changed as well.

"Slytherin!"

Always a Slytherin at the heart I suppose. I smile at him as he makes eye contact with me and Lily before going to join the others at the Slytherin table. I guess only time will tell now if our friendship is strong enough to keep him from some of the choices he made in another life…

"Emma Vanity."

"Slytherin!"


	11. Chapter 11

"Hermione."

"Hermione, wake up. It is the first day of class!"

I groan, opening one eye to glare at the squeaking red-head in front of me.

"Go away." I call as I bury myself under my pillows.

I hear a snort before another set of hands begins to shake my body.

"Hermione! We are going to miss breakfast," the voice sing songs and I roll over meeting the eyes of Alice Fortescue.

Last night we stayed up into the late hours of the night talking. It was a new experience for me, to feel so comfortable around a group of girls, having been best friends with Harry and Ron for years and now Jamie. The closest I ever had to a normal female friendship was Luna, and that was not exactly what I would call "normal" friendship.

All of the girls were really nice. Lily reminded me so much of the Hermione I once was, and it made me all the more protective over the adorable red-head. Alice was sweet and talkative, and Mary was shy and quiet. I found out that Alice and Mary grew up together.

"Alright." I groan. "I'm up."

A little while later we are walking through the corridors making our way to the Great Hall. I had wanted to wait for James and the other Marauders but ended up being manhandled out of the portrait hole by three small girls, imagine that.

I flop down on the bench automatically going through the motions of making myself my morning cup of tea.

"Hello My! Good morning." James kisses my head as he sits down beside me. I reach over him making him a plate of food; bacon, eggs, and toast…the usual. When I am satisfied I sit back in my seat and look down in front of me noticing that James has already made my plate too, porridge topped with blueberries and honey.

"So weird how they do that." I hear someone whisper and we look up from our respective meals, the eyes of nearly everyone around us directed at our plates before they look up meeting our eyes.

"Twins." James and I say at the same time before we begin laughing together at the unity in which we said it.

Sirius rolls his eyes before digging in to his own breakfast and Remus merely looks curious. Lily still looks flabbergasted and Alice and Mary look as if they missed the whole exchange.

After receiving our timetables, we all depart for class. First up, potions. Lily grabs my hand quickly tugging me to the front of the room to sit with Severus.

"Hello again Severus. How is Slytherin house treating you?" I ask conversationally but truly wanting to know the answer.

He looks at me with uncertainty before meeting Lily's gaze whom beams back at him.

"Hello Hermione, and it is as expected."

I smirk at his ability to dodge such a direct question and he raises and eyebrow back. I mostly tune out Slughorn's class, the information so ingrained in my own mind I simply sit back and allow Severus free reign of the potions table, which I believe he appreciates.

Walking to our next class I notice Sirius is more quiet than usual so I hang back walking beside him. I quickly put an arm around his shoulders leaning my head onto him.

"Are you okay Sirius?"

He rests his head on top of mine as we continue to walk, already comfortable with my presence. As if contact between the two of us came as natural as breathing.

"Yeah of course." He says, his voice low and muffled.

"Come on, you can tell me. I know something is bothering you."

He huffs before opening his mouth to speak. "I expected them to be furious, send me a Howler or something. But I haven't heard from them about the sorting. I am beginning to wonder if I will. I knew they would be mad…"

"You are talking about your parents." He nods slightly, knocking his chin into the top of my head.

"Yeah. You don't know what they are like…or maybe you know a little bit. But I think I might have truly well done it. Truly made them hate me." He whispers.

"Sirius if they can't see how wonderful you are, they do not deserve you. You are brilliant, and brave, and strong. Do not be ashamed to be those things, the things that separate you from them, the things that make you a true Gryffindor."

He smiles at me and it does not quite reach his usually sparkling eyes, and the thought makes my heart clench for this young boy. I gently touch his face smiling softly at him.

"You always have family Sirius, me and James, Remus…we will always be there for you."

"I know." He says before tucking me under his arm as we walk back towards the others.


	12. Chapter 12

A few days later I am running late to class having stopped in the girl's lavatory after James and Sirius made the strawberry jam on the table explode, getting it all over my face and hair. Those little miscreants, already becoming more trouble than they are worth, I seethe to myself not paying attention to where I am going. I am rounding the corner towards my Charms lesson when I run right into something, bouncing backwards and landing hard on the floor.

Sprawled on the ground I groan, leaning up slowly to rub the back of my head.

"So sorry,"

"We didn't even see you there."

Two sets of hands reach out to grasp my shoulders pulling me upright with a jolt. The boys standing in front of me look almost exactly like Fred and George, but not. Same bright red hair, but their faces more angled, with fuller lips and deep blue eyes instead of brown.

"I am Fabian Prewett, and this is my brother Gideon. Sorry about running into you,"

"Or maybe it was her running into us,"

"now Gid is that any way to speak to a lady,"

"I suppose not Fab, although perhaps it is the way to speak to a lady who almost trampled us to death,"

"Right on that one Gid." They finish staring at me with wry smiles. My mouth hangs open slightly and I realize they are Molly Weasley's younger brothers.

"Molly's brothers, she names the twins slightly after you." I almost whisper, my eyes unfocused behind their heads, the words forced out of me.

They look at each other in confusion before turning back to me.

"You know Molly?" Fabian asks at the same time Gideon says, "The twins?"

My eyes widen, and I squeak, before maneuvering around them and practically running down the corridor.

"Oi, come back!" I hear them yell in unison, but I am already rounding the corner to the charms classroom, opening the door and leaning my back against it breathing hard. I open my eyes to see the class staring at me and I smile sheepishly, quickly ducking into my seat in between James and Remus who look at me in question.


	13. Chapter 13

"Remus, are you feeling alright?" I ask the boy in front of me, his light blue eyes ringed with dark circles and his face pale.

"Yeah, just a bit of a headache." He says before tucking his head low and working on his Transfiguration essay.

I nudge his foot with mine under the table forcing him to meet me eyes or endure a massive shin kicking. He rolls his eyes, gradually looking at me.

"Merlin, I am fine, honest." He says, but I know it is nearing the first night of the full moon while he is at the castle.

"Here try this." I say reaching into my bag and handing him a small vial.

He looks at me questioningly before slowly reaching out to grasp it. Neither of us has talked about his lycanthropy, but I think he knows that I am privy to his secret. I also think he appreciates that I have not brought it up yet, but I understand he is not quite ready to talk about it and I am okay with giving him some time.

The vial I hand him contains a tea that old Remus use to drink before the full moon. He said it helped with the aches and pains he experienced leading up to the transformation.

Remus nods before slowly pocketing the bottle and I go back to my own essay. I see him looking at me out of the corner of my eye and I continue to work. I know he will talk to me about it in his own time. Until then, I just want to be there for him. Perhaps just thinking I know about him being a werewolf and me still being his friend is enough for now. In the meantime, I guess I will just have to make sure he is well plied with chocolate.


	14. Chapter 14

Days, bleed into months, and before I know it the Christmas holidays are fast approaching. Ironically enough, I have earned quite a reputation as an underachiever. My professors can see my lack of effort but are frustrated that despite my constant day dreaming, I am still able to answer every question, brew every potion, and perform every charm correctly. The McGonagall of my time adored me, if her gift of the time turner was evidence enough, but now she seems to be biding her time for me to slip up so she can give me detention. Especially since she believes James, Sirius, Remus and I to be behind "the incident." Which of course, we are.

 _The Great Hall as usual was a cacophony of noise. Students chatting with friends, dishes clanking, students chewing loudly with their mouths open…. I shoot a wry look towards a young Sirius Black who is doing a perfect imitation of Ron Weasley, digging into his mashed potatoes with gusto. Proper pureblood my ass, I think._

 _Remus begins to reach for the pumpkin juice and I slap his hand away giving him a pointed look. He blushes and retracts his hand slowly, realizing he almost fell privy to a prank he is taking part in. I cough lightly making all my friends look up slowly, giant smiles mirrored on all of our faces. I nudge my head in the direction of the professors table at which Sirius and James begin to bounce in their seat, and a huge grin stretches across Remus's face._

 _Lily, ever the intuitive young witch, narrows her eyes at us. Over the past months Lily has come to know me not only as a friend, but also as a part of a special foursome that enjoys causing their fair share of mayhem around the castle. "What are you four up t-," she begins to say at the same time as a loud scraping is heard from the front of the room._

 _Professor McGonagall quickly stands up from the heads tabl,e her chair scraping loudly across the floor, and emits the loudest burp I have ever heard in my life. The Great Hall is so quiet in the aftermath, I swear you could hear a feather touch down._

 _"_ _Minerva are you…" I hear Dumbledore start to say before he too lets out an award-winning belch. "Oh dear." I hear him say and the entire Great Hall erupts into an uproar of laughter._

 _I clutch my sides, grabbing onto Remus seated next to me for support. The four of us are crying we are laughing so hard, tears streaming down our face as the rest of the Great Hall falls into a fit of loud burps._

 _"_ _Herm(burp)ione (burp). I can't (burp) believe you (burp) didn't tell me!" Lily yells at me. I try to look ashamed, but the tears still trickling from the corners of my eyes let her know I am anything but contrite. I know it was immature, but I just reasoned I was just trying to act my age._

Remus and I were the brains, and Sirius and James were the brawn. Despite my less than academic career at Hogwarts, I still took a great deal of comfort in the library. I could often be found with Remus, Severus, and Lily in the library, although 9 times out of 10, I was using one of them as a pillow instead of actually studying.

I could tell Remus was still hesitant to tell me about his lycanthropy. So, after the first full moon I started sending gift baskets of chocolate to the hospital wing. He smiled at me, his eyes briefly flashing gold right before he wrapped me in his arms the morning following his release from the hospital. "Thank you," he whispered. I knew it was only a matter of him working up the courage. In the meantime, I already started my meditations for becoming an Animagus. However, I wanted to wait for James and Sirius to know before I made any real headway.

Sirius was still yet to hear anything from his parents. His brother had written to him a few times and I took this as a good sign, that maybe Sirius still had some family out there willing to look out for him. I could tell he was becoming worried about going home after so many months of silence, so I told him to owl his parents saying he was coming to the manor for Christmas and they would either owl back and say he couldn't, breaking their silence, or not owl back and he got to come home with me and James, something I knew he preferred anyways.

While none of my boys were friends with Severus, they all tolerated each other and that was fine with me for now. My once bitter and surly professor seemed almost happy. Severus and I had become good friends over the past few months, bonding over our love of potions and books. It wasn't a conventional friendship, but I was coming to realize that perhaps the best ones never were.


	15. Chapter 15

"There you are love,"

"Spent a right good deal of time tracking you down."

I sighed setting down my new book on potion making I received from Severus for Christmas.

"I was wondering when I would see you two again." I say brushing off my school robes and slowly standing.

"You know we quite enjoyed that prank you pulled,"

"Really well executed that,"

"Took it about 2 hours to wear off,"

"Bit rough going there for a while,"

"But I dare say the look on McGonagall's face was worth it."

"Brilliant."

I smile crookedly at them. Even the way they talked was so in line with their future nephews.

"And how do you know it was me?" I ask coyly.

"Ahh a couple of veterans like ourselves…"

"Are always able to spot fellow pranksters."

I chuckle extending my hand to them.

"Hermione Potter, I do not believe we have been _properly_ introduced."

They each shake my hand and I bend down briefly to grab by backpack and book before motioning for them to follow me down the corridor.

"Now since you are here, as "fellow pranksters", I was wondering if you could help me with a little problem…"

They give each other sly looks before jogging to catch up with me.

"What do you two know about making friends with a certain ghost?"


	16. Chapter 16

"Do. Not. Say. A. Word." I state as I walk into the Gryffindor common room plonking myself down in front of Remus at his feet.

Needless to say, our meeting with the Peeves the ghost did not go well.

 _"_ _Oh look you have brought me a little lion…although she does not look very, what is the word I am looking for…lion-like." Peeves states floating around the corridor. "Perhaps I can fix that!"_

 _Without any notice, I am dowsed in freezing cold water from head to toe, shrieking at the frigid temperature. Before I can even take a breath, I am being blown back by warm air, my cheeks rippling with the strength of the wind, and I reach up to shield my rapidly tearing eyes. As soon as the assault began it is over. I wobble a bit in the aftermath, my head woozy._

 _"_ _Now there is my little lion! Come back and visit Peeves!" He calls out as he sails away._

 _I blink confused eyes at the Prewett twins who seem to be containing their laughter._

 _"_ _Oh gosh, what did that barmy ghost do to me!" I pat my face down not noticing anything out of the ordinary before my hands reach my hair. What I feel there instead of the silky waves I was now so used to is a gravity defying fuzzball. Just when I thought I finally got rid of the signature Hermione Granger look, it comes back with a vengeance._

"Wow Mione, new look?" Sirius asks, a wide grin on his face.

"Yeah My, why do you resemble a puffskein?" James shouts.

I groan burying my face in my hands. If only they knew how close this new look was to the original, I think wryly to myself. Sometimes I can almost convince myself that I miss my old hair, that is until moments like this.

"Well you see…I went to see Peeves." The boys look at each other with suppressed grins on their faces.

"Okay…" Remus prods. "That still does not explain why you look like…" He gestures wildly to my hair, "this!"

"He may have stated that he wished for me to look more like a…lion."

And just like that I lost them. Doubled over on themselves in a fit of laughter. I huff standing up and making my way towards the girl's dorms.

"And don't think I have forgotten the role you two played in this." I say pointing at the two wizards currently trying to blend into the wallpaper in the corner.

I wave my hand around behind me as I start to climb up the stairs.

"I guess if you are all going to be in the common room together, you might as well introduce yourselves!"


	17. Chapter 17

**June, 1971**

And almost as quickly as it started, my first (second) year at Hogwarts is over. No Quirrell, no Philosopher's stone, no Devil's Snare, or giant games of Wizard's Chess, just a good year spent with good friends. As normal as one can get being a time-traveling witch I suppose.

Now we are headed back to the Manor for the summer. Sirius' parents finally owled simply stating that he was requested to return home for the beginning of the summer. I assured him that in no uncertain terms if he needed to escape to owl for us right away and we would take Grimmauld place by storm.

I received top marks, much to Lily's dismay, although I knew for a fact mum and dad got an owl home about me and James' "disdainful behavior."

It was a banner year all around. A year full of mischief, with little mayhem. Something I think I could quite get used to.


	18. Chapter 18

"Remus!" Hermione cried pushing through the throngs of children waiting to board the Hogwarts Express for another year.

"Hermione!" He smiled, rushing forwards to envelop the small girl in his arms.

"You miss me?" Hermione asks once he puts her down.

"Always." Remus smiles shyly. Hermione grins back and takes his hand dragging him towards the train.

They board the train together making their way towards the back to find their usual compartment with James and Sirius already sitting inside. The three of them had grown incredibly close this past summer, Sirius having run off to the Potter's manor the first chance he got. He then spent the whole summer with the twins flying their brooms through the orchards and playing pranks on their parents. Remus had been able to visit a few times throughout the summer so Hermione was glad to have them all finally together for a while.

"Sirius, isn't your brother coming to Hogwarts this year?" Hermione asks.

Sirius looked up from the pile of candy in his lap, a licorice wand dangling from his mouth.

"Uh, yeah, he is. Why?"

She sits down beside James running her fingers through his unruly hair while he tries unsuccessfully to push her away.

"I was just thinking that you may want to go find him. Maybe invite him to come sit with us?" She finally makes eye contact with Sirius who is staring at her with an open mouth, the licorice wand falling gracelessly from it and onto his lap.

"Yeah, um…yeah, I guess I could."

Hermione jumps up from her seat kissing James on the forehead and tugging on Sirius's hand.

"Great! I was just heading out anyways to go find Gid and Fab, maybe visit Sev and Lils."

"Meet up with you guys in a bit!" Hermione calls out as she drags Sirius from the compartment. He looks back helplessly at James and Remus who simply shrug as Hermione tugs Sirius out of sight.

Hermione nudges Sirius in the opposite direction as she goes in search of the third years' compartment where she might find Gideon and Fabian. They had been writing a lot over the summer and she had even gone over to their house once and finally met Molly and her husband Arthur and their adorable son Bill.

"Gid! Fab!" Hermione cries throwing open their compartment door and rushing towards them. She flings herself into their laps wrapping her arms around their necks.

"Hey My!" They say in unison.

Hermione props her back up against Gideon and places her legs across Fabian's lap stretching out. The three catch up on their summer and the twins tell Hermione how Molly is pregnant again and how she hopes for it to be a girl.

"She will have a girl, just not yet." Hermione says to the twins who just nod thoughtfully having gotten used to her strange comments over the past year.

"So My, are you trying out for the Quidditch team this year?" Fabian asks with a grin.

"Maybe." Hermione smiles slyly at the twins before getting up and making her way from the compartment.

"See you two at the feast!" Hermione calls as she exits the compartment, the twins just chuckle and shake their heads as they watch her leave.

"Hey Lils, hey Sev!" Hermione says after walking up and down the train finally spotting the two, each bent over a textbook.

"Do you two ever stop studying?" She asks quirking her eyebrow.

"Well some of us have to and do not just happen to _know_ the information." Lily says huffily.

"Yes, how do you do that?" Severus asks with his usual sneer pasted onto his face.

"Aw Sev, if I didn't know better I would say you were jealous." Hermione smiles at the young boy who scowls back.

"Anyway, how was everyone's summer?"

"Awful!" Lily says. "Petunia brought home her new boyfriend Vernon, he is probably the most awful person I have ever met."

"Mine was not much better. I tried to keep away from home as much as possible." Severus adds.

The three friends continue talking about their respective summers and their plans for the year.

Hermione finally makes her way back to the compartment she shares with her brother, Remus and Sirius, having changed into her school robes. She stops in front of the door, her eyes wide as she finally gets a glimpse inside. Sirius and a small boy, almost a carbon copy of Sirius himself, if not for the fuller cheeks and shorter legs, his eyes a shade darker and his hair cut shorter on his head, are playing a game of exploding snap. A huge grin spreads across Hermione's face as she finally opens the door.

"You must be Regulus!" She says extending her hand forward.

The tiny black-haired boy looks up at Hermione his eyes wide as he takes in her hair and eyes.

"Uh yeah, are you um, James's sister."

Hermione snorts taking a place beside Remus scratching his head lazily. He closes his eyes and leans into her touch.

"I like to think of it as James being _my_ brother, but yes I am Hermione. It is nice to meet you finally!" Hermione smiles looking over to Sirius. "I have heard a lot about you."

Regulus's eyes go wide as he looks over at Sirius in question who just shrugs. He looks back down to the cards laid out in front of him a tiny smile spreading over his face and Hermione's heart swells, happy to have brought the two brothers together. She just hoped they would stay close this time around.


	19. Chapter 19

As expected Regulus was sorted into Slytherin. Sirius was visibly upset but Hermione tried to assure him that it did not change anything.

"He is still your brother Sirius. Lily and I are friends with Severus, my mom was even a Slytherin once upon a time." Sirius snorted looking unconvinced.

"Okay so each student is assigned to a house based on their most prominent personality traits yeah? Gryffindor; brave, strong. Hufflepuff; dedicated, loyal. Ravenclaw; intelligent, witty. And Slytherin; cunning, resourceful." Sirius nods looking thoughtful. "Well none of those characteristics are inherently evil. We just add our own stereotypes based on the other characteristics those people in the houses possess. But at the heart, those are why people are sorted into certain houses. Your brother, he is cunning, he is resourceful, he values ambition. Do not shame him for being those things, especially when in doing so may end up bringing out those characteristics that you do find so evil. I even remember having a similar conversation like this with you before hmm?" Hermione smiled warmly at her friend who refused to meet her eyes.

"I just, I really wanted to be there for him. I really wanted him to be there for me. I didn't want to be alone." He stated looking down and fiddling with his wand.

"Hey, look at me." Sirius looked up slowly meeting Hermione's eyes and she reached out to cup his cheek. "Just because you are in different houses, does not mean that you cannot be there for each other. This, what you are doing now, that is what is going to separate you. Besides, you are never going to be alone." He smiles at her and nods. "Not if I have anything to say about it." She whispers picturing a young Sirius shivering all alone in Azkaban, rotting away for a murder he did not commit.

"Come on, we are going to be late for class." Hermione states dragging him from the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey Remus!" Hermione sing songs plopping down in the seat beside her friend. Remus smiles broadly at her before digging in his backpack to pull out his parchment and quill.

"Ew!" Hermione and Remus look up to the table in front of them where James and Lily are currently sitting. "James! You cannot just put your dirty socks on the table! They smell!"

"Oi! What do you mean they smell! These are clean they are!" James yelled back.

"I have experienced more pleasant smells in the owlery!" James picked up the offending sock and tossed it at Lily where it landed right on her head draping over and into her eyes. A loud shriek echoed throughout the room and there was a screech as Lily's stool slid across the floor.

"You ignorant little toe rag!" She aimed her wand at his own stool which then slid out from beneath James and he toppled to the floor.

Hermione looked over at Remus laughing at their friends' interaction.

"Aren't they just the sweetest." Hermione whispered to Remus as they watched a smiling James look up at a still raging Lily.

McGonagall walked down the aisles of the classroom watching the students attempt to turn their beetles into buttons. She stopped in front of Lily and James' table and sternly looked down at the pair. Lily promptly righted her chair, sitting down and staring straight ahead, ever the perfect student. She then raised her wand attempting to transfigure the beetle in front of her. James was still smiling brightly as he slowly got up and sat in his seat. McGonagall glared at them before heading to Hermione, Remus and Sirius's table to observe.

Remus and Sirius's eyes went wide and they raised their wands to their beetles. McGonagall looked towards Hermione and the young witch raised her wand and promptly changed the beetle into a button. McGonagall narrowed her eyes before continuing down the other side of the classroom.

Hermione smiled brightly always getting a kick now out of trumping her favorite professor. She looked over making eye contact with Remus and Sirius who stared at her with quirked eyebrows. Hermione merely smiled widely back before attempting to help them with their transfigurations.

After class was over Hermione waited for James who always took too long to pack up his materials.

"So what was that all about with Lily?" Hermione asked James slyly. The boy grinned widely turning towards his twin.

"My, that girl, I am going to marry her one day." Hermione laughed loudly looping her arm around James's shoulder and leading him out of the classroom.

"Yeah Me, I think you just might."


	20. Chapter 20

"Severus, why have you been avoiding me?" Hermione asked sitting down beside Severus who she found reading in the back corners of the library.

"I haven't, I've just been busy." He stated not even looking up from the potions book in his hand.

"Then why did you turn around and walk the other way when you saw Lily and I walking down the corridor yesterday?"

"I don't know what you are talking about!" He sneered finally looking into her eyes.

She held up her hands as if in surrender.

"We both saw you. You practically ran."

"I do not run." Hermione snorted tugging the book from Severus's hands.

"Well from my perspective you moved so fast I could have sworn Dementors were chasing you."

"I do not have to justify my actions to you," he snapped. Hermione sighed reaching out to take his hand but Severus jerked away as if burned.

"Sev, talk to me. What is going on with you?" She whispered looking down at her lap. "Please."

"I can't, there is nothing you can do." Severus stated firmly standing up from the chair he had been sitting in. "There is nothing I can do."

Hermione stood up quickly, grabbing him by the shoulders and twisting him around to face her. She squeezed her eyes tight as the beginnings of a vision swept through her. Hermione had not had a vision for a long time and her vision swam as she opened her eyes, unseeing.

"Severus, if you make this choice, you will live to regret it. You think it is your only option, but it is in fact the only option that will destroy you completely. If you pull back now, if you give in, she will die…so many will. And when she dies, you will never forgive yourself, no matter what you do."

Hermione choked as her vision finally came into focus. She blinked finally looking up into Severus's wide eyes.

"Please Severus." She finally whispered. Severus stepped back from Hermione before turning around and quickly leaving the library.

A few tears leaked from Hermione's eyes and she hastily brushed them away. She sat down in the chair Severus had recently vacated and buried her face in her hands, Severus's forgotten book resting in her lap.

"Lily, what are we going to do. He is pulling away from us!" Hermione cried pacing the empty corridor.

"I can't believe he would choose them over us." Lily spoke lowly. "I grew up with him, we were best friends. He is the one who first told me I was a witch. The first person to truly accept me as such."

"We have to make him see reason! He will destroy himself if he goes down this path!" Hermione ran frustrated hands through her hair, gripping the strands tight in frustration.

Lily sighed leaning back against the stone wall and closing her eyes. She opened them a few seconds later, her eyes taking on a determined look.

"Mione, sometimes we have to let people make their own mistakes."

Hermione growled low.

"But I can't just sit back and let him ruin his life. I cannot let him go down this path when I know how it ends!"

"I think we have to, I think this is something he has to do on his own. You know how he is! He never listens to what other people say. If Severus is going to make the right choice, it has to be just that, his choice." Lily stated, and Hermione finally realized how truly brilliant the young fiery-haired girl was.

Hermione sighed finally admitting defeat.

"I just wish he would listen to me Lils."

"I know Mione, but we can't make people listen, as much as we wish we could."

Lily walked over to Hermione wrapping her arm around the young girls' shoulders and they walked down the corridor heading towards Gryffindor common room.

Hermione stormed through the portrait hole leading into the common room, Lily right on her heels. Her hair sparked as if alive with her emotions. Her eyes settled on the young soon to be Marauders lounging on the various couches spread out around the fire.

"Promise me you will leave Severus alone. No matter what, promise me!"

James and Sirius looked at each other in confusion.

"Why? What did he do?" James asked in suspicion, standing up ready to defend his sister and his precious Lily at a moment's notice.

"No, sit down James Potter! He hasn't done anything, not yet. Just promise me!"

When no one responded, Hermione huffed in frustration, throwing herself onto the couch beside Remus.

"James. Sirius. No bullying, no snide remarks, nothing. Promise me!"

A few moments passed before they responded.

"Fine."

"Oi! What about me?" Remus asks.

"I'm not worried about you Remus, if they behave, so will you."

Remus looked unappeased but kept his mouth closed anyways, knowing that out of the three of them, he was the one least likely to cause trouble.

"I am going to find Fab and Gid." Hermione stated rising from the sofa and stalking towards the staircase leading up towards the boy's dormitories.

Two sets of eyes, one a silvery-grey and the other a blue-green, followed the young witch as she left the room.


	21. Chapter 21

"Hurry up My! You are going to make us late!" James screamed jumping up and down in the common room.

Sirius was lounging on the couches balancing a quill on the bridge of his nose as if he had all the time in the world. A moment later Hermione was rushing down the stairs, almost tripping in her haste, her long multi-colored hair wrangled into a sleek braid.

"I'm here, so sorry!" Hermione cried, grabbing Sirius by the hand and tugging from the couch with a oomph.

"Well, let's go then." She states strolling out of the portrait hole with Sirius still in tow.

The three friends race down to the Quidditch pitch just in time.

"Ah, and there is our trouble maker Gid." Gideon and Fabian Prewett smiled, their red hair glinting in the sunlight.

"Fab, I dare say there are three of them." They both chuckle and Hermione throws them a wry smile before strolling forward and wrapping her arms around the twins.

"You finally ready to show us what you got Mione?" She smiled up at them nodding her head quickly.

Hermione hears a snort behind her and turns around to look at the source of the sound, finding Sirius's pinched face and James narrowed eyes. She sighs before stepping back from the two boys.

"All right everyone, I am Robert James King, but everyone here can call me R.J. We have a few spots open this year, so listen carefully so you know where to go. I want those trying out for Seeker over here, the Chasers with the twins, and the Beaters with me. Those who want to tryout for the reserve Keeper can see Mary, as she holds the current position."

Hermione made her way over to stand with two other students. One she recognized as a fourth year named Dorcas Meadows, and the other was a small third year boy who she vaguely recalled being referred to as Bell. They waited a few minutes before a young girl came over to them, her black hair pulled back in a tight bun.

"Okay so I am Mary McGonagall, and yes we are related, however, distantly. Now that we have that out of the way, I will be handling your tryouts since everyone else is busy. It is simple really, you are all trying out for Seeker, catch the snitch." With the end of her speech she bent down and released the small golden orb, which shot into the air and disappeared.

"This is for you Harry." Hermione thought as she quickly mounted her broom and shot off after the snitch, the two other Gryffindors right behind her.

The snitch soared high into the air and Hermione was already right behind it, the air whipping past her cheeks, her eyes watering. She extended her palm to grasp the small sphere but she was knocked into from behind, the boy having gained on her. She spun the broom in a circle twisting herself in the new direction of the snitch. The boy was right beside her almost neck and neck, and Dorcas was on her other side quickly gaining. Hermione bent her body closer to her broom and was soon at the head of the pack the snitch right in front of her. The three Seekers were headed straight for the stands, but none of them were backing down. They were now a few feet ahead and Dorcas pulled back swerving to the side to avoid them. Hermione stretched out her hand at the same time as the boy, but the stands were right ahead. The boy jumped from his broom throwing himself out of the way. Hermione's hand just reached out a millimeter closer, her hand snagging the golden sphere. At the last second she pulled her broom up, going straight towards the sky. She was so close she could feel the cloth brush her fingertips holding onto the broom. Once she gained control over her broom, she maneuvered herself back towards the group. She touched down, fisting her broom, and began jumping up and down in glee.

"So I see we have ourselves a new Seeker. Two Potters, oh Merlin help us all." Mary stated retrieving the snitch from Hermione and stowing it with the other Quidditch supplies.

"That was brilliant Mione!" Fabian and Gideon said, stepping forward to pat the small girl on the back. She beamed up at them, adrenaline still pulsing through her system. She finally realized why her two best friends had loved the sport so much, it was exhilarating!

"Thanks! That was so much fun, I can't wait for an actual game!" She squealed in excitement.

The boy she had been trying out against, Bell, walked forward a sheepish smile on his face.

"You were really great out there, congratulations."

"Thank you, you were great as well you know, could have been either of us." Hermione stated, reaching out to shake the boys hand. He blushed bright red before turning around and leaving the pitch.

The twins chuckled elbowing each other and Hermione scowled at their childishness.

"My, that was amazing! You had me a bit scared there yeah, but wow!" James said in excitement.

"Me, I heard you made the team too, Gryffindor has a new Chaser as well?" Hermione smiled nudging her brother in the shoulder.

"Of course, did you ever doubt me?" He asked seriously and Hermione laughed.

"No of course not, who would deny James Potter? The outrage!" Hermione cried, tears leaking from her eyes at her brother's pompousness.

"Well hopefully Evans won't be playing hard to get anymore, after all, I am the new Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

"Oh Me, you still have so much to learn about women." Hermione sighed wrapping her arm around her brother before walking over to where Sirius was excitedly talking to R.J.

"Mione, I made it!" Sirius said, a huge grin on his face.

She rushed forward wrapping her friend in a huge hug.

"I knew you would, I am so proud of you Sirius Black." Hermione whispered in his ear, squeezing him tight.

"Bloody second years, everything is a touching moment with you kids." R.J. stated, a wry smile on his face. "Anyways, practice at the pitch in the mornings, I want that cup this year!" The boy stated as he grabbed his broomstick and left the pitch.

"How did it go?" Remus asked, looking up from his book as the new members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team made their way into the common room.

The three of them stood there, big smiles of their faces.

"I take it that means it went well?" Remus stated, chuckling to himself at the huge grins on his friends faces.

"Of course it did, we are Potters, greatness is in our blood, and you know Black here spends so much time with us it probably rubbed off on him too." James looked at Sirius a sly smile on his face. Sirius rushed forward tackling the boy. Who would think they had this much energy after flying around the Quidditch pitch for an hour? The two boys rolled on the floor throwing punches.

Hermione skipped forward throwing herself onto the couch next to Remus and snuggling up beside him.

"As you can see, they are a bit excited." She told Remus, her face buried in his chest.

"Aren't you?"

"Yeah I am, it was brilliant really…the exhilaration of it all."

Remus smiled down at the girl currently using him as a giant pillow.

"That's great, I am happy for you all."

"You will come to our games, won't you?" Hermione asked looking up into Remus's face.

"I wouldn't miss it." Remus stated, smiling down at the young witch.


	22. Chapter 22

"I cannot believe I ate that much!" Lily whispered as they left the kitchens.

Hermione smacked her lips rubbing her stomach lightly.

"Mmm, I regret nothing."

Lily huffed loudly.

"Let's just get back to the common room before curfew! I would hate to get detention…or worse, expelled!"

Hermione laughed out loud thinking how similar that statement was to something she said once upon a time.

"Come on!" Lily whispered loudly as they walked briskly down the corridor.

Together they made their way towards Gryffindor tower. They turned the corner at the top of a staircase, the two of them knocking into each other in their haste to get back to their dorm.

"Well, well if it isn't the two Gryffindor Princesses."

Lily exhaled sharply, grabbing Hermione's hand and spinning them to face the direction of the voices. Hermione's throat closed up as she faced who she could only assume was the younger versions of the Lestrange brothers and Antonin Dolohov, and she did something she had not done in a long time. She froze.

Dolohov laughed circling the two witches, his wand held firmly in his palm.

"Hm, I wonder if we should send them a message?" Rabastan laughed and it came out sounding inhuman, hysterical.

"Hermione?" Lily asked worriedly, looking up into her friend's wide eyes.

"Yeah, I think maybe we should send them that message…Stupefy!" Rodolphus yelled, a sneer on his face.

Hermione finally snapped out of it, shoving Lily behind her, her wand flew into her palm quickly.

"Protego!"

Rodolphus narrowed his eyes and the three of them spread out, pushing Hermione and Lily backwards until there was no place else to go, nothing but a wall behind them, nowhere to run. Hermione nudged Lily and the witch palmed her wand just as the spells stated flying.

Hermione was doing her best, battling both Lestrange brothers while keeping her eye on Lily. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her palms slick on the handle of her wand. Despite living through the first war, despite surviving a madman, it was almost too much for her, staring into the eyes of the ghosts she once battled. Like zombies risen from the grave to wreak havoc on the living.

"Lils!" Hermione screamed as her friend was hit with a Petrificus Totalus, her body going rigid before she fell backwards towards the ground.

"We should have brought Bella with us, she would have loved this." Hermione heard Rodolphus say, and she let out a pained moan as her eyes rolled back in her head. Her vision swam as she saw a young Bellatrix Lestrange standing over the prone body of an older looking Alice in what looked to be a dusty but lavish dining room. She blinked back to reality just as it happened.

"Expulso!"

Hermione was thrown against the wall behind her, her head snapping back hard, and the wind expelled out of her with the force. She slid down the stone, her body splayed gracelessly on the floor, her vision going blurry from the impact.

"No more talking to Snape or Black, they are ours."

Hermione blinked open her eyes long enough to see Dolohov kick Lily hard in the side as they walked away.

"No, I saw them walking this way from the kitchens I swear!" She heard Sirius say from far away.

She tried to get up and go towards Lily, but her head hurt so much she could barely move.

"Why are we trying to spy on them again?" Remus asked curiously.

"James here wants to know if Lily is saying anything about him since Mione never tells him." Sirius quipped.

"Oi, it's not creepy or anything, just curiosity." James said annoyed.

Hermione could just make out their forms now reaching the top of the stairs. She tried to stay conscious, blinking her eyes, but the movement too sluggish.

"Where could they have go-….Hermione!" Remus yelled, the group finally noticing them.

The three of them rushed forward, dropping down beside her and Lily, their eyes going back and forth between them. James sat back, his eyes wide, hands shaking. Remus was beside Hermione lifting her head up carefully from the wall, she groaned in pain at the contact. She could hear him growl low in his throat as he pulled his hand back, looking at the blood coating his fingertips.

"We have to get them to Madame Pomfrey…now!" Remus yelled, standing up and gathering Hermione into his arms. Sirius and James quickly gathered up Lily, her rigid form too hard to carry.

Hermione tried to smile weakly at Remus, feeling safe in his warm arms, but her vision swam and she finally succumbed to the darkness.

"Why isn't she waking up?" She could hear Sirius ask, worry in his voice.

"I-I *gulps* when she was little she got hurt really badly, they-" James choked back tears. "-they had to grow back part of her skull, I just think the trauma from that is making it hard for her."

"She is going to be okay."

The conviction in Remus's voice made Hermione smile just before she lost consciousness once more.

Hermione finally blinked open her eyes, sunlight streaming through the windows onto the white sheets of her bed. She stretched out her stiff limbs.

"My! Your'e awake!"

"Hey Me." She smiled at him.

"Hey Me? That's all you have to say!" James whisper-yelled, pacing the space beside her bed.

She reached out grabbing her brother's hand, her slender fingers entwining with his, before she pulled him down onto the bed beside her.

"It's not like it was my fault." She huffed in exasperation.

"Just-Just don't worry me like that again." James laid his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes.

"I wish it were that easy." Hermione whispered lowly.

The door to the infirmary creaked open and in rushed Sirius, Remus, and Lily.

"Lils!" Hermione yelled, scaring James who promptly sat upright and leapt off his sister's bed trying to gather his composure. "How are you, are you okay?"

"I'm all right, just a few bruised ribs." Lily stated, making her way over to Hermione's bed to take James' vacated spot.

"I'm so sorry! I got you hurt, I- please forgive me." Hermione sighed, looking up into her friend's bright green eyes, the same eyes as that once belonged to her best friend.

"Hermione, I saw you. You did everything you could, there is nothing to forgive."

Hermione leaned over hugging her friend tightly.

"Besides, you probably would have beaten them if you hadn't had a um…a vision." She whispered the last part low for only Hermione's ears.

Hermione snorted, she hoped her friend was right. Her biggest problem would be figuring out how to control the timing of her visions. When the real war begins, she couldn't become useless for a few seconds while a vision happened, she could get herself killed, or others.

Hermione looked up at Remus who was pacing at the end of her bed, looking around the room with narrowed golden eyes and she frowned in confusion before seeking out Sirius. She found him with a big grin on his face while he dug into a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.

"I'm glad you're okay My." He said coming over to wrap her in a big hug. "I don't know what any of us would do without you, especially me." He whispered in her ear, and Hermione smiled, loving getting a glimpse into the soft side of Sirius Black.

Remus turned around growling low at Sirius and Hermione looked at him in question.

"What is up with him?" Sirius asked.

"Wish I knew."

Later that night Hermione was finishing up a chapter in her favorite book, when she heard the door to the infirmary creak open again. She quickly grabbed her wand, aiming it at the curtains to her bed, waiting. The curtains pulled back, and Hermione sucked in a breath until she saw the shiny long black hair and slightly dingy robes.

"Severus?"

"Hermione." He nodded at her before making his way closer and sitting in the chair beside her bed.

She waited patiently while the young boy stared at his shoes. Hell if she was going to be the first one to speak.

"I'm sorry." He finally whispered, so low she could barely hear it.

"I had no idea they were going to do that, and I'm sorry."

Hermione sighed.

"Merlin Severus, I couldn't care less that you are sorry that they attacked us, we are both okay. I want you to be sorry that they think they own you, that they think you are on their side. Better yet, THAT YOU ARE ON THEIR SIDE!" She was almost screaming by the time she finished, and she realized she would have to be quieter.

Severus grimaced and she could tell he was thinking.

"I'm sorry…and I'm not on their side." He stated lowly before he got up and left the infirmary. Hermione merely stared at his back as he left, hoping that what he said was true.


	23. Chapter 23

The soon to be Marauders were all headed to the Potter's house for Christmas. Hermione and Lily had decided together not to tell Dumbledore who attacked them, simply because doing so may draw even more unwanted attention their way, especially since Hermione needed to stay off their radar as much as possible and Lily was a muggleborn.

James dragged his bag down the stairs, clothes and socks sticking out through the seams. Hermione was lounging on the couch, her legs resting in Sirius's lap who was napping, his head tossed back against the couch and his mouth wide open. Remus was playing a game of Wizard's Chess with a sullen looking Lily who desperately did not want to go home for the holidays but whose parents were making her go anyways.

"You guys ready?" James asked, walking forward and tickling Sirius's nose with a forgotten quill he found lying on the table in front of them. Sirius's nose twitched before he snored loudly, smacking himself in the face in order to scratch the phantom itch, then bolting upright. In the process, he dumped Hermione's legs unceremoniously from his lap and the witch's body slid from the couch with a thud.

"Ow." Hermione said, laying on the ground and staring up the stone ceiling of the castle. She stood up slowly shooting Sirius a glare before walking over and grabbing her own bag.

"How is it that you manage to cause mayhem wherever you go James Potter?" Lily asked shooting daggers at the young boy.

"Natural talent I suppose." James shrugged smiling widely.

"Ugh, can we just go?" Lily stood up, grabbed her own bags and striding from the common room. The group looked at each other with wry smiles before quickly gathering their things and following.

The crew gathered in their usually compartment, Lily going off to find Alice and Mary. Remus was reading from a textbook and Hermione laid her head on his shoulder scanning the pages with him while James and Sirius were discussing various things they could do to cause trouble around the manor. Hermione reluctantly rose from the seat, stretching lightly.

"I am off to find Fabian and Gideon. I promised them I would spend the train ride with them since we will all be together for break."

She walked out of the compartment making her way in the direction of where the twins usually sat. She looked down at her black trainers, noticing the strings had come undone. She squatted down on the ground quickly gathering the worn laces. Hermione didn't even hear the footsteps, one minute she was staring at her shoelaces and the next she was staring up into the pitch-black eyes of Bellatrix Lestrange, or she supposed, Bellatrix Black currently.

"Get out of my way you blood-traitor trash." She hissed, before briskly walking down the rest of the corridor and out of sight.

Hermione remained sprawled on the floor, her mind not quite comprehending. She scrambled back up to standing, her breath coming in pants, whole body shaking. She numbly walked towards the twins' compartment, opening the door.

"Hey Mione!" Fabian said.

"We were just wondering where you were." Gideon smiled.

Hermione stared at them, her eyes looking at them blankly. She let out a choked sob before rushing forward and crawling onto Fabian's lap, wrapping her arms around Gideon and pulling him close to them, burying her face in his neck.

"Mione, love, what is wrong?"

"You know you can tell us anything."

She merely buried her head further into Gideon's neck. Despite being comforted by two of her best friends she could not get the image of Bellatrix Lestrange's crazy eyes as she carved away at her arm out of her head. Mudblood, Mudblood, Mudblood, the words rang through her head like a mantra. She scratched absently at her unblemished arm, despite years without seeing the mark she could still feel the ragged edges of the scar, and eventually she fell into a fitful sleep.


	24. Chapter 24

"Remus you have been exceptionally quiet these past few days."

"Yeah, I have just been thinking."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

Remus sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back against one of the many couches strewn about the Potter library.

"I need to tell you guys something, but…I'm afraid."

"No matter what Remus, you know we will always stand by you right?"

He laughed but there was no humor behind it.

"You say that now, but you haven't heard what I have to say yet."

Hermione smiled softly, reaching out to take Remus's hand within her own.

"Remus, I already know."

He snorted and tried to pull his hand away, but Hermione held firm.

"You can't know."

Hermione looked deep into her friend's beautiful blue-green eyes, holding his gaze.

"Yes Remus, I can." Remus looked surprised, his neck moving as he swallowed.

"Just tell them. For you Remus, this secret is everything, but for me, for them, it is just details. I already told you, no matter what, we will stand by you."

Remus moved quickly, grasping Hermione firmly in his arms, his nose buried in her hair. He thought, how was it that she was always there. That whenever he thought he had nothing, he had no one, she gave him everything.

"Okay." Remus breathed, his warm breath tickling her ear.

Hermione smiled brightly grabbing Remus's hand and tugging him towards the orchards where she knew they would find Sirius and James flying their brooms.

Not too much later the group was gathered under the trees behind Potter Manor, the Potter twins and Sirius all staring up at a pacing Remus, wringing his hands. All of sudden he stopped, quickly turning towards the group and blurting, "I am a werewolf."

Hermione giggled lowly, and turned to look at the wide-eyed expressions on her brother and best friends faces.

"I'm sorry mate, you are going to have to repeat that, I didn't quit catch what you said. You just kind of _barked_ it at us." Sirius looked up at his friend a wry smile on his face.

"Yeah mate, cat got your tongue." James choked out, desperately trying not to laugh at his friend.

Remus gritted his teeth, looking them both in the eye.

"I am a werewolf." Remus stated clearly this time, he looked down at the ground, "and I would understand if that meant you did not want to be my friend any-"

"Wicked!" James shouted. "A Werewolf! So, you like, change every full moon? Into a wolf?"

Remus gulped before nodding slowly.

"Merlin! That is awesome!" Sirius stated.

"Remus when did this happen?"

"When I was a kid, I was bitten..."

James narrowed his eyes at Remus.

"Why are you just telling us this? We have been best friends for a while now."

Remus finally decided to sit down in the grass, glad knowing that at least his friends weren't mad at him over being a werewolf.

"I was scared. Of what you would think, of how you would look at me after I told you, of you not wanting to be my friend anymore."

James smiled lightly, reaching out to clap his friend on the back.

"No matter what Remus we will stand by you." His words echoing his sisters and Remus couldn't help but let a few tears escape.

"Oi now, I thought werewolves were meant to be all big and bad, don't ruin this for me Remus." Sirius stated always trying to lighten the mood.

"My, anything to say to our canine inclined friend here?" James said nudging his sister.

Hermione moved her hand around wistfully. "Oh I already knew."

"YOU TOLD HER!" Two voices shouted loudly.

"No, actually, this is the first time I have heard Remus admit it out loud to me." She stated, smiling when she made eye contact with her old, or she guessed, young professor.

"I knew since our first train ride to Hogwarts when we all met. I was just waiting for Remus to tell us all on his own time."

Sirius nodded but James eyes were still a bit narrowed and she knew she would be hearing from her twin about keeping secrets from him.

A few moments later and the boys were all talking excitedly to one another, Remus with a big smile on his face while James and Sirius talked about all of his "superpowers." He may disagree with them on whether they were "super" or not, but he was just too happy at the moment, surrounded by friends who truly cared about him and accepted the parts of him even he could not.

Hermione smiled fondly at her best friends, her family, wanting to be in this moment with them, but as hard as she tried she could not stop picturing pitch black eyes framed by wild black hair, and hearing the evil laughter of someone who had lost their humanity, and she hated herself a bit for it.

Remus was woken up by muffled crying, his ears twitching at the noise. The next second he bolted upright realizing where it was coming from.

"Noooooo!"

"Please! We didn't take anything, I swear!"

A scream pierced the silence surrounding the house. Remus leapt from bed and raced out of him room just in time for James to shove him back into his door frame and dash down the hall, opening Hermione's door and disappearing inside.

Sirius stumbled out of his room rubbing his eyes and looked up at Remus in question. Remus shrugged and Sirius looked at Hermione's door before slowly walking forward, hand outstretched.

"It is a fake, I swear…PLEASE, I AM TELLING THE TRUTH!"

Hermione's limbs flailed in the bed, her whole body shaking. James was whispering softly to her standing beside the bed, his eyes wide and glistening with tears.

"My, please wake up. It is okay, it is Me, I am here."

Hermione's sobs grew louder and she twitched. She started choking on her cries, her body closing in on itself.

"MY PLEASE!" James cried, crawling up onto the bed beside his sister and wrapping his arms around her, resting his head on top of hers as he whispered to her quietly.

"Shhh, it is okay. I am here, always here for you."

"Please wake up, please."

Hermione's body stopped flailing but her muscles still twitched beneath her skin, her body covered in sweat. She groaned in pain and slowly blinked open her eyes, but her vision was obscured by James' chest.

"I saw her, I saw her James. I saw her, and I froze." She sniffled loudly, burying her face further into him as James face grew cold.

"I imagined the moment, even tried to prepare myself for it. But it happened, I saw her and I wasn't brave. I did not stand up for myself. It was like I was back there again, lying on that floor." She wailed gripping her brother's shirt tightly in her small fists.

"I hate myself for not being brave. For letting her get to me. For, for forgetting who I am now, and becoming who I was."

"Shhhh. My…My listen. No one would ever expect you to be brave in that moment, sometimes bravery is experiencing your worst fears and still finding a way to wake up the next day, to smile, to live your life. You are the bravest person I know My, and on the days you find yourself feeling less than brave, I will always be there for you."

Hermione felt the bed depress beside her and she turned slowly looking into the sad pale grey eyes of Sirius Black and decided right then she never wanted to see this particular look on his face again.

"We." He said.

"What?" Hermione asked not even realizing there were other people in the room, and a bit embarrassed that they witnessed her having a nightmare.

"We will always be there, that is what he means. That no matter what, all three of us will be there for you. We." Remus said coming to sit down on her bed beside Sirius.

Hermione chuckled brushing the tears from her cheeks. Sirius cuddled into her side laying his head on her stomach. James narrowed his eyes at his friend and half-heartedly shoved at his shoulder. Sirius grumbled and they all quickly realized that he was already fast asleep. Remus shrugged, his blue eyes holding a strange amber hue as he settled down maneuvering his body so that he could nuzzle his nose into Hermione's hair. James snorted grabbing the blanket that had somehow drifted to cover Sirius and covered himself before following suit and falling into a deep sleep.


	25. Chapter 25

The next day was Christmas and you could barely tell anything was different between the four friends, that is unless you were Dorea Potter. She saw the way James watched his sister with concern, and the way that Sirius always seemed to make a joke when Hermione's smile slipped a bit, or the way that Remus kept putting himself near her almost like he was trying to guard her, his eyes flitting around the room checking for possible threats. Dorea was not sure what had happened between the four of them, but this was an interesting development, and one she would have to keep her eye on.

After gifts were exchanged and the kids were all lounging in front of the fire playing games, Charlus called James and Hermione into his study.

"I have a gift for you two. A gift that has been passed down to Potters for generations. It is a family heirloom and it seems only fitting that I pass it on to my two children."

Hermione's eyes filled with tears as she realized what was happening. James gasped as their father pulled a glistening cloak from a box, passing it towards his children. Hermione nudged James who slowly reached out to grasp it.

"Is this what I think it is?"

Charlus chuckled smiling fondly at his only son.

"Yes, this my children, is an invisibility cloak. Use it wisely, and Merlin please do not get caught with it." He said smiling wryly at his children who he knew had a strong penchant for pranks.

James was absolutely gleeful. He looked at his sister who smiled warmly back at him.

"We should figure out a schedule, take turns you know?" James said.

"No, no. You should hang on to it." A huge grin split her brother's face as he began considering the possibilities. "But, if I should ever need it, you have to let me borrow it…no questions asked." Hermione grinned and James narrowed his eyes sharply before nodding.

"Fine, deal."

Hermione laughed patting her brother on the back as he practically ran out of the room, most likely to go present the cloak to Remus and Sirius.

Hermione looked back at her father and swiftly walked forward wrapping her arms around his midsection.

"Thank you." She said, and they both knew she wasn't talking about the gift.

"Every day I am proud to call you my daughter. You are, and will forever be, a Potter. Do not ever let yourself doubt that."

Hermione sniffled looking up at Charlus's smiling face.

"I love you Dad."


	26. Chapter 26

Alas I do not have a new update for you my faithful readers, however, I am back on the grid! I recently moved to Africa for those of you who were wondering, and contrary to someone's opinion it is anything but a "shithole." But I digress. I made a few updates and edits to the story, so I hope you all enjoy the changes, and I hope to have a new chapter out to you all very soon! It is already in the works:) Stay tuned...


	27. Chapter 27

**So I finally have a new chapter up! It would have been sooner but electricity and internet is a bit hard to come by here. Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

"Okay so I have an idea!"

"I still don't understand why we couldn't tell Remus where we were going?"

Hermione huffed loudly whirling around.

"I told you already, because it is a surprise for Remus. Well, I guess it is more for Moony than Remus."

"Moony?" James asked and Hermione froze and turned slowly.

"Uh yeah, you know, cause of his um- condition, with the ah- moon." She stated waving her hand around in the air.

"Moony! That is awesome…why didn't I think of that?" Sirius asked, speaking the last part to himself and Hermione nearly smacked herself in the head not having thought more carefully before sharing her friends old nickname with the group who once upon a time created it.

"Anyways…I have been thinking. So Remus is alone for his transformations, but what if he didn't have to be?" Hermione asked, chewing on her bottom lip, suddenly nervous for no reason.

"What do you mean, wouldn't Moony kill us?" Sirius asked, already catching on to the Marauders newest nickname.

"Well yes he would, that is if we were human, what I have planned we won't be." Hermione added with a sly smile, which was usually reserved for pranks and snarky barbs.

"Oh, this seems interesting enough, I'm in!" James declared swiftly.

Hermione rolled her eyes, of course James would readily agree to a plan without even knowing the details.

"James, you don't even know what I am referring to yet." Hermione said exasperated.

"Doesn't matter, you said it was for Moony, and you're my sister…my twin, I trust you." He gave his sister a boyish smile and she had to chuckle at just how adorable her was.

"Okay, okay, fair enough."

"Well despite how much I trust you Mione, I still want to know to what you are referring." Sirius gave her a wry smile, his shaggy black hair hanging down into his eyes and she had the strongest urge to lean forward and brush it away from his face, and for some reason she decided not to.

"What if we become Animagus? We turn into animals, then we can be with Moony!" A huge grin spread across her face imagining her brother, the proud stag, and Sirius the lovable bear-like dog.

"That would be wicked!" James and Sirius declared at the same time. The pair looked at each other in confusion before tackling the other to the ground, rolling around in a fury of fists.

"Well then its settled! We will all start our meditations immediately, I want us all to have visualized our forms in say 3 months, that good?" Hermione was pacing in circle completely ignoring the fighting duo currently grappling on the ground.

"3 months! Are you bloody mad, most wizards can't even become Animagus because it such advanced Transfiguration!" Sirius cried, his brain already hurting just thinking about it. Sirius pushed James away in favor of hunching over and holding his forehead, moaning.

"But we are not most wizards, and I know for a fact both of you are up to the challenge." Hermione said smugly, because both wizards knew that when Hermione said something would happen, it would happen.

They sighed before silently nodding and the three young Marauders all made their way into the house.

* * *

"Bloody hell, literally." Hermione thought to herself. "If I didn't love the witch so much I swear I would make sure she was never born for putting me through this a second time." Hermione groaned in frustration at having to get rid of one of her favorite undergarments.

One would think having gone through this before, that puberty would be easier the second time around…they would be wrong. Hermione slowly picked herself up from her sprawled position across her bed where she had been lying for the past hour trying to move but finding herself either unwilling or unable to do so. She glared at her stomach with distaste and snagged a chocolate frog from her own secret candy stash, and one for Remus, before making her way down to the common room.

The Marauders had returned from their Christmas Holiday and were now back at Hogwarts. The year had started off great, Hermione was enjoying being with all of her friends again and starting the last bit of her second year.

She was still grumbling under her breath about her current predicament as she descended the final steps to where her boys were waiting for her. Her forehead was creased in thought as she placed herself on the couch in between Remus and Sirius.

"Hey My, something wrong?" James asked in obvious concern after seeing the look on his twin's face.

"No I am fine…just girl stuff." Hermione said absent-mindedly while Sirius and James faces took on identical looks of horror. She shifted her legs underneath her body and turned to look at Remus, and the moment she did her eyebrows drew together in confusion.

Remus was looking at her not with his usual beautiful blue-green eyes, but with eyes that shone bright gold. His stare seemed to penetrate into her very soul and she shivered under his gaze. Something rumbled deep in his chest before he leaned forward and buried his face in her neck breathing in the scent of her skin. Hermione gave a small yelp at the sudden contact and was starting to get worried about her friend's mental state as he began to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her towards him. Hermione knew Remus was a werewolf but at that moment she could have sworn he was almost purring.

"Remus knock it off, what is up with you?" Hermione stated struggling in his arms, feeling a bit awkward at her friends display in front of her brother and Sirius.

She looked over making eye contact with her brother who looked about ready to tackle his friend and then Sirius who looked confused and almost a little angry.

"Oi what is this? Moony paws off my sister!" Hermione groaned thinking how at the moment her brother was attempting to stick up for her but still could not pass up the opportunity to make a werewolf joke.

Remus growled low sniffing her neck more thoroughly and nuzzling his nose into her hair. At that moment, a large bang echoed through the room as the portrait door slammed closed and in walked a grumbling Alice as she made her way up to the girl's dorm not even noticing the four friends sitting on the couches in varying degrees of distress.

Hermione looked up again making eye contact with her friend's familiar blue gaze.

"There you are." She said her hand reaching out to lightly trace his cheek. His eyes momentarily flashed gold again before he was swiftly removing Hermione from his lap and moving out of the room.

"I'm uh- going out. I mean, I am going for a walk. I um- yeah- I'll catch up with you guys later." Remus said before turning and moving out of the room as quickly as possible.

"What the bloody hell was that about?" Sirius asked and his choice of phrase made something dawn on Hermione and she equally hoped she was right and wrong.

* * *

For a week Remus managed to avoid Hermione. At random moments throughout the day she would find him watching her with golden-hued eyes and when she tried to confront him, he would make an excuse and find somewhere else to be. The young werewolf was becoming exceedingly good at lying these days and Hermione was not pleased by this change.

Finally, things slowly went back to normal and Hermione was too happy to have her friend back that she did not even question what had gone wrong in the first place. The Marauders were back to being as thick as thieves as the school year was drawing to a close.

The four friends had been sneaking back into the Gryffindor common rooms after another successful prank, this time involving Mrs. Norris, a sticking charm, and a classroom floor that just happened to be covered in failing essays from Slytherin house. The group was still laughing picturing Filch's beloved cat running wild through the corridors trying in vain to get the paper unstuck from her paws. James suddenly came to a halt and put his arms out in front of him barring his friend's passage.

"Oi, I have an idea, and it just might be my most brilliant yet!" He exclaimed throwing his arms out wide and almost smacking Sirius in the nose.

"Hey watch it you wanker!" He yelled after successfully ducking his friend's wildly gesticulating arms.

"Me we just finished a prank, can't it wait?" Hermione laughed wondering what her twin had already concocted.

"No, no, not a prank…what if we made a map, and it would should all of the corridors, maybe even secret passages and such if we can find them, and it showed where every person in the castle was! That way we could never be caught out after curfew again. No more detention!" He yelled the last part so loud his friends quickly shushed them and started swiftly walking back to the tower.

"Wow! That would be brilliant!" Sirius smiled wide thinking of the possibilities.

"Are you sure this isn't because you want to be able to keep tabs on Evans at all hours of the day?" Remus asked giving his friend a wry look.

"I am actually offended that you would even think that my dear Moony, and thank you Sirius, I myself think it would be brilliant as well." James declared pushing Remus as he strode toward the portrait hole.

"Me that is a brilliant, that ego of yours, however is not. Let's do it!" Hermione cried hugging her brother around the neck as she walked into the common room.

"How do we begin?" Sirius asked curiously following behind the twins.

"I am so glad you asked." James stated as he plopped himself down on the couches making himself comfortable before laying out his plans.


End file.
